Is Alzheimer’s is a preventable disease?

A 2014 research at the University of Cambridge suggests that one in three Alzheimer’s diseases cases are preventable. There are about 47 million people living with Alzheimer’s disease and the number is expected to triple by 2050. While there is no established cure for Alzheimer’s various research studies reveal that there are several activities that when executed, keeps the disease at bay.

What are the risk factors of Alzheimer’s disease?

A previous study in 2011 suggests that one in two cases are preventable by adjusting lifestyle factors but it treated each risk factor independently of each other. The seven risk factors include:

Midlife obesity

Diabetes

Midlife hypertension

Physical inactivity

Smoking

Depression

Low educational attainment

Reducing the risk of each factor by 10% reduces the prevalence of Alzheimer’s in about 9 million cases of dementia by 2050. For a healthier old age, here a some few tips to follow

10 tips to help you prevent Alzheimer’s disease

Regular exercise

One of the major benefits of exercise is that it wards off dementia. Engage in aerobic activity three-five times a week, with each session lasting 40 minutes. Exercise improves your ability to concentrate, stimulates brain cell growth and long-term memory. The more workout you do, the more savings you invest in your brain bank. The goal of every workout is to sweat and get your heart pumping.

Change your diet

If you’ve been eating unhealthy food, it’s important to have a healthy diet because weight gain puts you at risk for Alzheimer’s. Increase consumption of Mono-unsaturated food such as peanuts, pistachios, walnuts, cinnamon and avocados. Other food to incorporate in your diet include folic acid, leafy vegetables, Omega-3, beans and fruits. Reduce intake of refined food and red meat.

Manage stress

Studies show that stress changes the brain’s structure and pathways for connectivity. Stress is chronic and takes severe toll on the brain. It shrinks the hippocampus where memory happens, affects nerve cell growth and increase the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s. When you feel stress, perform restorative breathing. Make relaxation a priority, meditate regularly to enhance your mind-body connection and limit situations that cause stress.

Get sufficient sleep

The recommended length of sleep time is 7-8 hours and if you get fewer than six hours at night, you might have trouble in cognitive functioning as you age. The sleep apnea is one of the cause of dementia because the brain isn’t receiving enough oxygen. If you have sleep apnea visit a doctor and develop the habit of sleeping well at night.

Quit smoking

Smoking is one of the risk factors of Alzheimer’s because people who struggle with cigarette addiction are at a higher risk than those who don’t smoke. If you’re finding it hard to quit, try alternatives like an e-cig.

Conclusion

Other prevention tips include learning a new language, frequent reading, playing brain games and keeping a social circle. The fact that there is no known cure for Alzheimer’s makes it all the more important to take note of the risk factors and make healthy changes that enhance your chances of not experiencing Alzheimer’s.